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SALT LAKE CITY - We're going with a late-night postgame version of "Gameday" in this one, since the back-to-back doesn't leave much in between room for new topics.
Instead, let's break down everything that wasn't in the coverage in the paper (links to game story of Utah's 101-94 win and Kings notes below).
DID MILES MAKE MARTIN MAD?
It's not as if Kevin Martin hadn't done anything by the time C.J. Miles made him mad. He had eight points late in the second quarter, having already surpassed the single-game total he'd finished with in the three previous games.
But facts are facts. And after Miles dunked with 3:15 left in the second and apparently stared Martin's way in some sort of disrespectful fashion, the fact is that the Kings shooting guard scored eight more points in the final 3:15 of play as the Kings went on a 13-5 run from that point on to help the Kings cut Utah's lead to 49-46 at halftime.
"It all started when CJ Miles had a dunk and looked at him," said Kings rookie guard Tyreke Evans, who had 25 points of his own, six assists and four turnovers. "He just turned it up. I think we need to get somebody to look at him more often."
Martin laughed at the exchange, and it's safe to say he scoffed at the relative relevance of the player in question. But as for whether that got him fired up, he said it was more a case of the last few days of practices and some individual work helping him get right.
"I just watched some tape lately of how I played in the past," Martin said. "The main thing was I had to be aggressive. It doesn't matter if I start off 1 for 6 (shooting), 1 for 7. I'd had games like that where I finished 10 for 18. I just had to have that mentality and just go from there.
"We had two great practices where coach (Paul Westphal) did a lot of one on one and three-on-three just to get back in game form...That was a good drill we did. Then it was just trying to translate what we did last couple days in practice."
PUTTING THE 'O' IN BENO
The Kings were doomed once again by their lackluster offense, as Evans and Martin were alone on that front. No other Kings player scored in double digits, and reserve point guard Beno Udrih couldn't even get off his goose egg.
Udrih went scoreless for the first time this season, missing all five of his shots while being badly outplayed by Utah's recent D-League callup Sundiata Gaines (12 points, five assists). While Udrih scored 24 points against Golden State Tuesday, he has scored in single digits in six of the last eight games.
Gaines looked well on his way to taking Utah's backup point guard spot from former King Ronnie Price, who watched from the bench in the fourth quarter while Gaines played all 12 minutes (and had five of his 12 points). Not that Gaines is a nobody: remember this shot, when Price literally handed Gaines the spotlight and he was as bright as could be.
NOT GOING GREENE
I discuss Westphal's decision to sit Donte' Greene after the first four minutes in the Kings Notes, but left out the fact that Andrei Kirilenko had scored six easy points in the four minutes, 24 seconds he was guarded by Greene.
Westphal obviously switched it up early and never went back to Greene. The counter argument, of course, is that Greene's length could have helped the hapless frontcourt defense of Paul Millsap (32 points). But Andres Nocioni really did do a nice job on Kirilenko, agitating him like only he can and cooling him off significantly.
Kirilenko had 13 points before Nocioni even entered the game midway through the second, but he scored just two points in the final 5:56 in which Nocioni guarded him. In the third quarter, Kirilenko missed all three shots taken while Nocioni was on his hip and went scoreless. It was more of the same in the fourth, when Kirilenko had three points and Nocioni mostly guarded him.
* One last addendum note regarding rotation decisions. I asked Westphal about whether he gave much thought to letting Jason Thompson take more breathers and going back to Jon Brockman to attempt to slow Millsap, to which he accurately stated.
"Jon wasn't having much luck with him either, so I thought our best bet was JT," he said.
On one play, in particular, Millsap did his best Deron Williams impression with a spin move in the lane that put Brockman sliding on his backside while watching the bucket from below.
From The Bee
'Martins-Evans backcourt stars, but Kings fall,' By Sam Amick
'Wrist watch begins; Garcia tumbles on it,' By Sam Amick
From The Charlotte Observer
'Bobcats' Jackson muffles his old team,' By Rick Bonnell
'Curry lights it up in front of Dad,' By Rick Bonnell
GAMEPLAN
Charlotte (23-22) at Kings (16-29)
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Arco Arena.
TV: CSNCA.
Radio: KHTK (1140 AM).
Kings update: There has never been a better time for home cookin' than tonight for the Kings, who play seven of their next 10 games on the road. What's more, they have gone from dominating at Arco Arena early this season to losing six of their past nine home games. There's the revenge factor, too, as the Bobcats downed the Kings on Jan. 18 at Time Warner Cable Arena. In that game, Stephen Jackson held Kevin Martin to nine points.
Bobcats update: Right when the Bobcats were being considered a legitimate Eastern Conference contender, they failed their biggest tests. They won nine of 10 games to start 2010, but then have lost to Atlanta (103-89) and Orlando in overtime (106-95) before dropping their third game in the last four against Denver on Monday (104-93). The Bobcats downed Phoenix in overtime Tuesday (114-109) before defeating Golden State 121-110 Friday.
Probable starters
KINGS
No. Player Pos.
13 Tyreke Evans PG
23 Kevin Martin SG
20 Donté Greene SF
34 Jason Thompson PF
31 Spencer Hawes C
BOBCATS
No. Player Pos.
20 Raymond Felton PG
1 Stephen Jackson SG
3 Gerald Wallace SF
32 Boris Diaw PF
13 Nazr Mohammed C
- Sam Amick








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